The Girl Who Crept Up On Him
by Minna26
Summary: A story on how Finnick met Annie and then grew to love her. Rated T for violence (it is The Hunger Games) and adult themes.
1. The Girl in The Waves

**A/N - Here is my new story. Just some clarifications. This is set just before the third Game after Finnick's Game. That makes Finnick 17 and Annie 14. This will be a multi-chap fic and I will try and update fairly regularly. Please Review, it would mean the world. Enjoy! :)**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or anything that you recognise as I am not Suzanne Collins._

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**The Girl in the Waves**

Finnick sat on the beach watching the light of a new day starting to fall on the ocean in front of him. It was a beautiful sight, one that was slightly unique each day, but Finnick didn't notice it. His mind was elsewhere, seeing things that only he could see. It was like this every morning for Finnick. The night always brought the nightmares that would keep him awake. He always had nightmares of the time in the arena, of the faces of people that had since left the world. It had been almost three years since he had won the 65th annual Hunger Games, but still the nightmares didn't not stop visiting him each night. And every night that they had woke him up, he would come down to the beach to try and escape.

The dreams were getting worse, which was not surprising. It was getting close to reaping day again. Finnick used to love reaping day, the excitement of finding out who was tasked to bring glory to District 4, but ever since his own games he always dreaded it. The dreams would always get darker in the month leading up to the reaping and the games. This year it had been worse. It was the first year the Finnick would be mentor. The first year that he would be tasked to look after a tribute and try and turn them into a victor.

Finnick shied away from the thought that had entered his mind. _No don't go there_, he thought. However, try as he might the thought of having the tribute that he mentors die in the arena still came to him. Finnick tried to push it away, not wanting to think of what that would be like. How would he face the tribute's parents? _NO, stop thinking about it,_ he silently reprimanded himself.

It was just then that Finnick noticed someone swimming out in the ocean. He had been so deep in thought that he had not noticed that the sun had fully risen and that someone had now joined him at this secluded area of water. He watched the person emerge from under the wave and noticed that the swimmer was female. He continued to watch, trying to see if he recognised her. She was like a fish, the way she swam. She appeared to be so comfortable in the water that you would mistake her for one of the mermaids that you heard some of the old fishermen talk about, when they were telling legends on a boat ride in back from sea. Even coming from District 4, Finnick had never really seen anyone swim like that before. He watched her catch a wave into shore and realised that he recognised her.

She was the daughter of a fairly well known and respected fisherman. He remembered her name, _Annie Cresta _. He had seen her every now and then. Only glimpses here and there. It wasn't surprising really, she was three years younger than him so he never really saw her at school, and ever since becoming a victor he hadn't gone to school anyway. The only time he saw her now was when he went to the markets to buy fish and even then it was rare. Finnick always bought his fish from Marius Cresta because he used to be a friend of his fathers, who had died in a boating accident when Finnick was seven. Marius had then hired Finnick's older brother to help man the boat on the Saturday fish, until he was reaped and was not lucky enough to survive. It had almost killed Finnick's mother, seeing both her husband and son die, but she had remained strong for Finnick and his two younger siblings and continued her work as a net maker to provide for the family.

Finnick realised that he had been staring at Annie well lost in thought. She had looked up before he could look away and noticed him looking at her. She smiled and he returned it. He had never spoken to Annie before, but he knew that she would recognise him for being a victor. Everyone recognised him for being a victor. He was smart enough to know that people only wanted his company because of what he had done, not because who he was. People that had never payed attention to him before the games, when he was from a poor family, suddenly wanted to become his friends. Girls would come up to him and flirt with him now and he knew that it was all to do with the Games. At the start he would flirt back and entertain some of them but after a while he just wanted someone who liked him for being him.

He thought that Annie was going to be the same as all the other girls as she walked up to where he sat on the beach, but as she got level with him and sat next to him there was none of the hair twirling or batting of the eyes that he received from the other girls.

"Hey Finnick," Annie said to him as she sat down next to him.

"Hey Annie," was all he replied.

"You're out here early," she stated.

"So are you," pointed out Finnick.

"Yes," she admitted, "but you were here before I was."

"I just needed some fresh air," he answered, not really wanting to tell anyone about his nightmares. He thought they would make him look weak.

"It's such a beautiful morning," Annie commented. Finnick had to agree with her, with the sun still coming up, everything was looking beautiful. He just smiled in return, wondering if he had ever talked about the weather with any of the other girls.

"Do you go for a swim often?" he asked, politely.

"Every morning," she explained. "I don't train at the centre but I want to keep fit just in case my name is ever pulled out of the reaping bowl."

"Oh, ok," was all Finnick could think of as a reply.

"I have to go," Annie said, getting up. "Unlike you, I still have school to go to."

With that she walked up the beach and left Finnick to his thoughts. He was slightly confused by their conversation; he had never had such a normal one like that before with a teenage girl. Yet that wasn't the only thing that he was confused about. He wondered what type of person Annie must be not to go to the training centre. It was a choice for all the children in the district, a choice made when they were twelve years old and eligible for the Games. Not many people said no to the training centre either. In fact, he knew three, now four, people who had ever turned the offer down.

He had chosen to train, every day for two hours after school, because he had wanted to be prepared for the chance that he would be reaped and that no one would volunteer for him. In his mind it was the best decision that he had ever made, it saved his life. He wondered about this girl who didn't accept that chance to protect herself in the games but who still swam every morning to stay in fairly good physical condition. It was obvious that she still thought about being prepared for the arena, but why would she not take that extra step to be ready? Did she regret her choice now, was that why she swam every day? How would she survive if she entered the arena?

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought from his brain. He got up trying to plan what he would do with the day that was in front of him and, for the first time ever, wondered when he would get to see Annie again. He wasn't sure whether he was looking forward to it or was just intrigued by the choice she had made. Either way he was interested in getting to know this different girl better.


	2. The First Reaping

**A/N – This is probably the quickest I have ever updated! I already have the next couple of chapters writen so I can keep updating regularly. If I get further ahead I will post more than once a week, but at the moment it will still happen once a week. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favourite it means a lot to me. Thanks also to my awesome beta reader Lulubird for reading through both this chapter and the first chapter. If you want any good Clato (among others) fanfics to read, read hers. They are amazing. Any enjoy and please read and review!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is recognisable._

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**The First Reaping**

A month had passed quickly since the morning that Finnick had first talked to Annie. The day that he had been dreading had quickly arrived. It was the reaping day. The day one he had wished would never come since he became a victor. It was the day when he would first become mentor to a tribute. He wondered if he was as nervous as they would be, then he remembered how happy he had been when he was reaped. He then knew that he was going to be the most nervous.

He walked out to the stage, while the square was filling up, and took his seat with the past victors. Now that the other male victors had decided that he was old enough to mentor they had left the task with him. He understood why they wouldn't want to do it, District 4 couldn't win every year, but he was still a little annoyed that it had been left up to him. He couldn't argue with them either. He may be a tribute, but he was still the youngest.

He cast his eye around the boys gathering in front of him, wondering which one would he have the unfortunate job of mentoring. He knew some of the faces staring back at him. He saw a few children of the people up on the stage, who lived with their parents in the Victor's Village. He knew a few of the kids from the market. His eyes stopped on one face that he knew fairly well. That of Dylan Cresta, Marius Cresta's oldest son, and older brother to Annie.

_Annie_, Finnick thought and looked over to the girls side, trying to find the fifteen year old girl. _Annie_. She had often been on his mind since the time on the beach. He had found her different to all the girls, and he couldn't help comparing their conversation to the conversation he had with every girl he met.

As the mayor made his speech Finnick thought about the other girls. "Oh, Finnick you look wonderful today," or "Oh Finnick, what can you tell me about the capitol". They always wanted to flatter him, find out about the glamorous things that he had seen or done. That, or they wanted to talk about themselves. "Oh Finnick, don't you think my dress is pretty," or "Oh Finnick, I learnt how to use a trident today." He wondered if they really had learnt to use a trident, or were just saying that to impress him. He knew that the second was always true, he never knew if the first was.

His eyes fell on Annie just as the escort from the Captiol walked up to the microphone. He tuned out the annoying voice as he looked at Annie. He noticed that she was one of the few in the crowd that looked worried, even possibly scared. He wondered about that, very few of District 4 found the Games as a thing to worry about, especially the children. It was really only relatives of those who had lost their lives in previous Games that worried about the outcome of the reaping. He wondered why this was and why she could see the Games for what they were. Maybe if he found this out he would understand why she chose not to enter the training centre.

Finnick started to pay attention again as the crowd started cheering. He hadn't noticed that a name had been picked out of the reaping and that a 13 year old girl had walked up onto stage. He also hadn't notice another girl volunteer and come forward. He didn't pay attention to her name. All he could think about was the thought of the District cheering a kid to death. He was disgusted by the parents and friends celebrating the girl who volunteered, knowing that she was going into an arena with twenty-four kids where only one comes out. He was also disgusted by the disappointment shown on the girl who was originally reaped. Shouldn't she be glad that she was safe? _Why would she_, he thought. _I was glad to be reaped, I was excited to bring glory to the district_.

Finnick looked back to the boys side as the escort from the Capitol reached her hand into the reaping bowl to choose the name of the male tribute.

"The male tribute for District 4 is," she said, "Dylan Cresta!"

Finnick's eyes immediately flicked to Annie. He noticed the emotion of dread and horror fill her eyes, as she realised that her brother would be heading to the Arena. _Don't worry_, Finnick wanted to tell her, _someone might volunteer_. Finnick watched as Dylan approached the stage, saw the happiness on his face, and also a little fear which Finnick recognised as the fear that someone would volunteer. _Stupid boy_, Finnick thought as he saw it.

"Are there any volunteers?" the Escort asked. Finnick looked around hopefully, not only for Annie's sake but for his as well. How was he going to mentor Dylan? He was a friend of his brothers, and the reason why his brother got work for his family. Finnick had also gotten to know Dylan as well, and although he found him boisterous and full of love for the Games and the glory, Finnick didn't want this fate for him. "No volunteers? Very well, here are the two tributes for District 4!"

Finnick watched as the peacekeepers led Dylan and the female tribute away to the justice centre. He wondered who would go and visit both the tributes. Surely Annie would, but what words would she say to her brother? Would she be able to hide the horror and fear that he so easily saw on her face? What about the female? What was her name and who were her connections?

Finnick thought about the chance of success that his tribute had. He knew that Dylan had trained at the centre and knew that he was pretty decent with a spear. He was strong, but he was also fairly quick. He was also fairly good at finding water and knew some edible plants. Unlike the other career Districts, the District 4 training centre had also taught their tributes about edible plants and how to find water. They were also taught some survival tips, just in case the tributes didn't want to form an alliance with other careers. He knew that Dylan was also fairly smart. As Finnick hoped onto the train to take him to the capitol he had the comforting thought that he might actually be able to bring Dylan back home to his family.

**A/N **– Dylan means 'son of the sea' and Marius means 'of the sea'.


	3. Flashes before the Games

**A/N – Here is the third chapter. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, alerted and favourited. Thanks to Lulubird for being my beta reader. I you ship Clato go and read her stories. Dylan's game was originally going to be one chapter but the pre-games part took me longer to write than I planned so it is now two chapters. I also added a small flashback of Finnick's Games. Please read and review. Enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is recognisable._

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**Flashes before the Games**

The time leading up to Finnick's first Games as a mentor went by in a blur. He only remembered certain snippets. He remembered the first meal on the train where he and Mags questioned the District 4 tributes about their strengths. Dylan confirmed what Finnick had remembered about him being good with a spear, but he was also surprised to find out that Dylan was good with a sword as well. At the meal he learnt that the female district 4 tribute's name was Marina. He also found out that she was also good with a sword.

Tribute's Parade was the next memorable thing for Finnick. He thought that the outfits that the stylists had designed for District 4 were decent, especially compared to what they had done in previous years. The stylist had turned Dylan and Marina into the merpeople from the legends of the old sailors. They had been given silver, sparkly tails that flowed out behind them as they were pulled through the streets of the Capitol. Dylan was left shirtless, with green seaweed painted on his body. Marina was given a seashell bikini top and was also painted with seaweed.

At the site of his tributes Finnick couldn't help but think of the girl who could swim like she belonged in the water. Annie. He wondered if she would be happy with the outfit that her brother was wearing. He also wondered whether she, the girl who seemed to see what the games were truly like, was proud of her brother, standing there in the chariot that night. She wouldn't be able to deny that the costume would help her brother. District 4 stood out from the other tributes that year, guaranteeing that they would receive money from sponsors.

Finnick talked to Dylan and Marina after the first day of training, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the other tributes and then contemplating which tributes should be offered an alliance, if they should form an alliance at all. From what he and Mags were told a decision was made to form the traditional Career pack. He then spent the time talking to the mentors of District 1 and 2 to form the alliance. A decision was also made to make an offer to the male tribute from District 10, who, from what both Dylan and Marina had said, was strong and fairly good with a number of different weapons. He remembered the mentor, passed on from the tribute who was named Angus, declined the offer rather aggressively. Finnick found out later that he had killed Angus' brother in his own Games.

He remembered waiting for the training scores with Mags, Dylan and Marina and their stylists. Dylan and Marina had both told them that they had done well in their private sessions. They watched as the District 1 male got a 10 and the female an 8. Then both the District 2 tributes got 9. He watched, holding his breath, while District 3 got 7 and 6. Then it was District 4's turn. He watched as Caesar Flickerman announced Dylan's name along with the number 9. He then waited till Marina got an 8 before congratulating them, and being thankful that both of them had gotten a good score to work with to gain sponsors. Again his thoughts drifted back to Annie. He wondered again how she would have felt about her brother's score. Would she be proud and happy or would she be worried that this would make Dylan a target as soon as the Career pack had split up, which they all knew would happen. Again, she would have to realise that this would help her brother gain a significant number of sponsors. Finnick turned back to the television to then pay attention to the training score of Angus, who was given a 10.

It was then the day of the interviews. He spent the day with Dylan. They started by planning what angle Dylan should play to help win over the sponsors.

"With your costumes at the parade and your training score you will already have a number of people wanting to sponsor you," Finnick remembered telling Dylan. "But we need to find an angle that you can play, that will make even more of the Capitol have confidence in your chance of winning."

"How about tough and brutal?" Dylan asked.

"I don't think that would work," was Finnick's reply. "I don't think that your character is enough of a fit that you would be able to pull it off. I also think that the District 1 male will work on that angle, and you want to be different from him to be more memorable."

"So what do you suggest?" Dylan asked.

"To show your confidence," Finnick answered. "You are confident in your skills and I think that we should push this to make you look arrogant and very confident in your ability to win this."

They then spent an hour or so practicing Dylan being arrogant. It didn't take much for him to come across as arrogant and Finnick was pleased. They then spent another couple of hours going through the types of questions that Dylan might be asked in the interviews before Finnick handed Dylan over to his stylist.

The night of the interviews went as planned. Finnick was right in guessing that the District 1 male would show that he was tough and brutal and also sullen. He looked angrily at the crowed and didn't answer many questions. Finnick could tell that he had gained quite a few sponsors that night, even if not many people liked him, because they all knew he had one of the best chances of winning.

Dylan did well in his interview. He came across as someone who was confident in himself and his abilities, which he was, but he also did a great job of coming across as arrogant, which Finnick found wasn't part of his natural character. He also was very charming, which was unexpected, but Finnick was thankful for it and the sponsors that it would bring. He himself knew how the Capitol loved it when a tribute was charming.

Marina also had a great interview. She also came across as charming, but Mags had gotten her to show that she could be cold and deadly if she wanted to as well. It was a nice touch, but then he already knew to expect that from Mags as she was one of the mentors for his Games. Finnick didn't pay attention to the rest of the interviews, he was too nervous about the days to come and the plan that he had set out for Dylan. He didn't know whether Dylan would listen to him or not, but Finnick knew that having a plan from your mentor can decide between life and death, if you remembered it.

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_It was getting closer to the end and only four were left, apart from the Career pack. In the pack there were only five left, including him, and tension was rising. Finnick had thought of staying on with the pack until there were only two other tributes left. However, his mentor, Merritt, had told him to leave the pack as soon as he could sense that the pack was strained. Finnick had sensed this for a couple of days and he was able to imagine Merritt watching on the screen and yelling at him to leave. Finnick ended up deciding to take his mentor's advice. _

_It was the night that he made this decision, that he first saw his opportunity to leave. He was first on watch for the night and sat by a tree as the others all fell asleep. As soon as he knew everyone was asleep he left the camp. He had thought about killing the others in their sleep, but he didn't because he thought that he might wake up the other three when he killed the first one and he wasn't sure he could take all three on at once. So he silently left the camp. It turned out to be the right decision to make because only an hour after he left did he hear the cannon go three times and three faces of the Career pack flashed in the sky. He found out after he won, that not long after he left the Pack the male from District 1 had woken up and silently cut the throats of those sleeping around the fire._

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The morning of the Games was soon upon them. Finnick walked Dylan to the place where the hover-craft was going to pick him up. He remembered outlining the plan to Dylan.

"Remember to run straight to the weapons as soon as you can," Finnick instructed. "You might have formed an alliance with District 1 and 2, but they will still go for the weapons that they favour and they won't hand them over to you."

"Ok," was all that Dylan replied.

"When it comes to breaking-up the alliance, leave whenever you decide that things are getting a bit dangerous for you." Finnick continued. "Don't try to grab too many supplies when you leave. One because the Games won't be that far from ending and two, it will slow you down."

Dylan nodded to show his understanding.

"Remember everything you learnt in the training centres," Finnick told Dylan. "I mean everything, not just your weapons training but how you find water and what plants are edible."

Dylan nodded again and the rest of the walk to the hover-craft was in silence.

"Finnick, if I don't win, tell my family that I love them," Dylan said suddenly, just before they had reached the loading zone. "And tell Annie that I am sorry. She will know what I mean, even if you don't."

"Of course I will," Finnick replied, looking a little taken aback. "But you have a really good chance, Dylan. Just remember what I told you and what you have learnt and you will be ok. Finally good luck." Then Dylan entered the Hovercraft and Finnick went to the mentor's Pavilion where he would watch the games and distribute whatever money the sponsors chose to give Dylan.

He stood in the mentor's Pavilion next to Mags as they watched the tribute's enter the arena, the first time that he got to see the Arena that the Game-makers had created for this year. He heard Claudius Templesmith announce the start of the 68th Hunger Games and the sixty-second count-down began.

"60, 59, 58..."

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**A/N – Marina means 'of the sea' and Merritt means 'star of the sea.'**


	4. The 68th Hunger Games

**A/N – Sorry that this is a week later than I was planning to update. I have been busy, sick and tired and really not in the right mind for proof-reading. So this is Dylan's games and there isn't much Annie x Finnick in this chapter but I will make up for it in the next chapter! As always thanks to everyone who review/alerted/favourited and please read and review! Enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything recognisable._

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**The 68****th**** Hunger Games**

As with the time before the Arena, the 68th Hunger Games went by in flashes for Finnick. The parts that he did remember, he could recall too clearly for his own liking. His first memory of that Game was the countdown. He used the 60 seconds to look at what the arena actually was. In the mentor's pavilion there were a number of screens, one for each tribute so each mentor could see what their tributes were doing. There were also extra screens which would show the position of the tributes in relation to the Arena.

Currently these screens where showing an aerial view of the Arena. Finnick's breath caught in his throat as he saw what the arena was. The only word that could explain the arena was dangerous. There were lava pits scattered here and there and patches of boiling mud and hot water springs. There were streams of poisonous gas coming out of cracks in the ground. Finnick also heard Claudius Templesmith telling Caesar Flickerman that some of the deceptively solid looking spots of land were actually quicksand. There were patches of vegetation and what looked to be drinkable watering holes spotted through the environment. Finnick knew that though these looked safe, they would probably be just as dangerous as the surrounding environment. He did decide that there was one benefit to this arena though. A tribute would be able to light a fire and not be caught because no one would be able to tell if it was glow and smoke from a lava pit or not. Not that anyone should have needed to light a fire; it wasn't going to get cold.

Finnick then looked towards the Cornucopia and saw a close up of the supplies available. There were water bottles, packs of food and packs that appeared to be first aid kits. He then scanned the weapons and was disappointed to see only three swords. There were three spears, a selection of knives and a selection of bows and arrows available. Finnick even spotted a number of different sized axes, and he wondered if that was placed for anyone particular or if they just decided to use that as a weapon this year.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0." The end of the countdown marked the beginning of the Games. He watched as Dylan, taking Finnick's advice, ran fast towards the weapons. He and Marina got there at the same time, but Angus, the male tribute from 10, and the District 1 male had gotten there first and claimed two of the swords. Finnick watched as both Dylan and Marina reached for the final sword and Dylan got their first. Finnick saw a look of knowledge pass over Dylan's face and the next thing he knew, Dylan was handing Marina the sword.

"Take it!" Dylan had said. "Take it! I am just as good with a spear as I am with a sword. You're not. Take it!"

Finnick watched as Marina wordlessly took the sword, Dylan grabbed one of the spears and they both ran out to join in the bloodbath. Dylan stabbed his spear forward and skewered the girl from District 11. Finnick saw Marina stab the District 12 girl in the stomach with a thrust of her sword and then swing her sword round quickly to slice the girl from 10 across the chest and then follow it up with sliding the sword across the girl's throat. Dylan chased down the male tribute from 5 and thrust the spear forward to stab the boy, who looked no older than 13, in his side before removing the bloody spear and stabbing again, this time puncturing the chest. Dylan's final kill during the bloodbath was the boy from District 12. Dylan threw the spear as the boy was trying to get away and the spear caught the boy in the neck.

It was one of the quickest bloodbaths that Finnick had seen and it was one of the most bloody and brutal. Quite a few of the tributes were killed during it, with both the male tributes and female tributes from District 1 and 2 claiming lives. Angus had also claimed a life. Finnick had seen him behead the male from District 3 with one clean stroke of his broadsword. The mouth of the Cornucopia was scattered with the bodies of the dead Tributes and the ground was covered in blood. He looked to see who had died as cannon went off to signify the end of the fighting.

Finnick looked at the screen that showed the faces of all twenty-four tributes to see who had survived. He saw that 11 tributes were killed. It was a credit to the strength of the Career pack that they were the only Districts to have both of their Tributes still alive. District 12 and District 8 lost both. Finnick's eyes flicked over to Haymitch Abernathy, the only District 12 mentor, to see a bottle of alcohol in his hand and a tired and depressed look on his face.

Finnick then didn't get to see much of the Games while the Career pack were hunting down the other tributes, as he was collecting sponsors for both Marina and Dylan. It was not long after the bloodbath that both Finnick and Mags discovered that Finnick was collecting the most money. Finnick had just thought that Dylan was popular, like he was, but when Mags pointed out that most of the sponsors were female did he start to wonder about this. In fact, he agreed with Mags that they were probably only sponsoring Dylan for the chance to sponsor the Tribute that Finnick Odair was mentoring.

After they had this revelation that they decided that Finnick could interact with all the sponsors while Mags worked with the District 1 and 2 mentors to distribute the money. They had decided when they had first tried to start the alliance that they would pool any of the sponsorship that they got between the three Districts because it was difficult to get one gift to just one of the tributes. The only time that this had happened successfully in previous games was with Finnick's trident because none of the other Careers had ever used a trident in the training room.

Finnick didn't mind interacting with the Capitol people. He preferred it than to watching the Career pack slowly take out the rest of the tributes. He found out that quite a number of the tributes were killed by the number of different traps hidden in the arena. Even the girl from 2 and, surprisingly, the male from 1 died in one of these traps. Not many of the Tributes escaped from injury caused by the various traps and he knew that Mags and the other mentors would have to use most of the money towards gifts of medicine. The number of injuries caused by the traps allowed the Career pack to easily hunt and kill most of the tributes. There was no reason for the Game Makers to get involved this year.

Finnick remembered one moment of the 68th Games very clearly. It was one thing that made him feel more fear and worry than anything that he saw in the Arena that year. It happened when he was gaining sponsors. He had several Capitol women fawning over him. Finnick had been giving the ladies compliments and smiles, trying to charm the money out of their fancy purses, when he looked up and made eye contact with President Snow. That one look made Finnick's blood run cold. He had seen a look of greed in Snow's eyes, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with his interaction with the women. On the few times that Snow was present when Finnick was getting sponsors he had always seen Snow watching him, and every time he saw this Finnick found himself feeling a fear so strong that he hadn't felt since he had been in the arena.

Finnick remembered watching the Games one night, there were very few Capitol people around for him to get money from. They were probably all in their homes excitedly watching their screens and he took this moment to see what was happening. Only three tributes outside the career pack was still alive; the female from 7, the male from 9 and Angus. He was watching Marina on sentry duty for the career pack as they slept. She was looking alert, but tense and Finnick had a feeling that she was going to sneak away that night. Sure enough, half an hour after the other Career's had fallen asleep, Marina grabbed her pack and sword and left the pack.

She walked quietly through the few trees that surrounded the camp and walked out towards a path she and the other careers had walked that day. Finnick felt dread creep through him as he watched. Unlike Marina, he knew that Angus had been tracking the career pack and Marina was heading right for him. It didn't take long for the both of them to meet up. A fight with their swords quickly followed. Finnick watched as Marina blocked Angus for the first couple of blows but he knew that Angus was too strong for her and soon enough Angus had disarmed her. Marina had time to let out a scream before one quick swing of Angus' sword beheaded her in a move that he was beginning to be famous for.

Finnick watched in horror as her head slowly slid of her neck and landed beside her body as it sank down to the ground, blood gushing out from where her head used to be. He watched as Angus quickly fled the scene to allow the body to be collected. He felt sick and a glance to Mags showed him that he was never going to get used to this no matter how many times he mentored at the games. His eyes turned back to the screen just in time to see the hover-craft come to collect her body. It lowered two claws down, one for her body and one for her head and with that Marina had left the games. He was still watching with revulsion when something on another screen caught his eyes.

He looked to the screen to see that Marina's scream had awoken Dylan and the other careers back at camp. Finnick saw that each had drawn their weapons and they were all yelling at each other. The boy from District 2 had his spear pointing at Dylan while the girl from 1 had her bow also pointed at Dylan. Finnick knew that Dylan was not going to survive this and he watched with sorrow in his heart as the girl shot her arrow and hit Dylan in the chest, right where his heart was. He noticed the boy from 2 double over and realised that Dylan must have thrown his spear before he got shot. He payed attention to the screen long enough to see that Angus, alerted to the Career's camp by their yelling, had snuck up to the camp unnoticed. Angus crept up behind the last Career and just before Finnick looked away he saw him run his sword through her heart.

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**A/N - Hope you enjoyed! Please Review! :)**


	5. Thoughts and Memories

**A/N – Sorry that this update took so long. This chapter was hard to write because I originally had trouble putting emotion into the first part, which I felt was very important for this story. So after a few re-writes this is the result and I think I like it. Thanks again to my beta reader lulubird, if you haven't read any of her stories I suggest that you go and do it. Please read and review, I would say enjoy but I am not sure that it fits with this chapter.**

_Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, I still don't own the Hunger Games :(_

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**Thoughts and Memories**

Finnick didn't remember the rest of the 68th Hunger Games. He had heard from someone, he wasn't even sure who it was, that the Games had ended less than a day after Dylan had died. Apparently, after killing the girl from District 1, Angus began hunting down the other two tributes. Angus had quickly found the boy from District 9 and beheaded him in the same way that he had beheaded Marina. He then came face to face with the girl from District 7 who didn't last long in the showdown. She was wielding an axe and had no way of overcoming Angus' strength. She was kneeling on the ground with cuts in both her legs when Angus swung the sword in his signature movement and cut off her head, much to the delight of the Capitol watching.

After Dylan died, Finnick went into his shell. He remained for hours, staring at the screen that had always shown Dylan. He felt numb, not caring or noticing what was going on around him. It was only when Mags gently told him to go up to the District 4 lodgings that he actually moved. Once he got to his room he started to feel again. He was sad and felt guilty, but he also felt angry, although he was unsure who he was angry with. He sunk down on his bed and shed the tears that he had held back in the Mentor's Pavilion. He sat there with his head in his hands, tears streaming down his face. The image of the arrow hitting Dylan in the chest played over and over in his mind. He couldn't think of anything else. All he could see over and over again was the life leaving Dylan's eyes, lying on the ground dying. Finnick stayed in the trance for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes.

Once again he was brought out of his own thoughts by Mags. This time she was knocking on the door. He got up and opened the door to see her looking at him with understanding.

"Finnick," she said gently. "Have a shower and go to bed, we leave in the morning to return to District 4."

Finnick didn't reply, he didn't feel like talking at that moment, which Mags seemed to understand. He just nodded and wandered to the shower, as she quietly left the room. To distract himself from his thoughts of Dylan, Finnick thought of Mags. She had been a mentor to District 4 as long as he could remember, admittedly that wasn't that long, but he wondered why she hadn't passed the reins on. There were plenty of female victors who would take on the task of mentoring if Mags gave it up, even if they didn't want to. But she didn't, and he didn't understand why. In fact, he couldn't comprehend it at all. If she felt like he did nearly every year, he wouldn't be able to manage it.

He thought that he would end up like Haymitch Abernathy, constantly drunk, to escape his feelings. He used to be disgusted by Haymitch but now he understood him. He had no idea how Mags did it. Some would suggest that maybe she didn't feel anything at all, but he knew that she was wrong. Mags cared. Maybe she cared a little too much, because although she was still functioning, Finnick could still see her pain. He wondered if that was the reason why she still mentored, she cared too much about her Victors that she didn't want them to go through the ordeal of losing a tribute.

His thoughts unwillingly went back to the Games he had just witnessed. This wasn't the first time that he had lost someone he knew in the Games. In fact it wasn't often that he didn't know someone. However, this was different. He had been responsible for the safety of someone, and not just anyone but someone related to a person who had helped Finnick's family out in times of trouble. His mind went back to the last time he had spoken to Dylan, when they were waiting for the hover craft.

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_"Finnick, if I don't win, tell my family that I love them," Dylan said suddenly, just before they had reached the loading zone. "And tell Annie that I am sorry. She will know what I mean, even if you don't."_

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What had Dylan meant? Tell Annie he is sorry for what? Sorry that he had to go into the games? Or sorry for something else, and if so what? Finnick had no idea, but then he probably wasn't supposed to. She would understand.

His mind moved off his own sadness and guilt for a minute. Annie. How would she be feeling at the moment? If he was feeling this bad, she must be feeling so much worse. He thought of the twenty-three families that would be mourning. They would be feeling what he was and more. He remembered how it felt to lose a family member to the Games. The aching sadness that he would not see his brother again. His mind went back to that moment.

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_He was sitting with his mother, Nerissa, and his two younger brothers were sitting in their home in front of the television. They wanted to be alone to watch the Games this year. Finnick's father had died two years ago and now Merritt, his older brother, had been reaped. Finnick was only 10 years old, his younger brothers were 8 and 5. His mother had been trying to stay strong for her family but Finnick could see that she was struggling. It was the 61__st__ Hunger Games. Merritt had gone to the training centre for three years, but for the past two years he had forgone the training for working on the fishing boats to help feed their family. He had gotten rusty with his weapons and even though he was strong he wasn't able to use any weapon well. He never did like training with weapon and he was a fairly gentle person. This meant that the career pack hadn't wanted him. _

_Merritt had managed to survive the bloodbath by running away as soon as the countdown had reached zero. He had managed to find water and the arena was warm all the time, so he hadn't needed to worry about exposure. However, he hadn't managed to find much food. Finnick had been watching in dread each day as Merritt had grown weaker and weaker from having no food. He had been constantly on the run from the career pack as well, so he had gotten little rest. Finnick had thought that his brother wasn't going to last much longer._

_ At night fall on the third day, the Careers had finally caught up to Merritt. Merritt had only a large thick stick as a weapon, not having found anything better while on the move. He only lasted a few minutes parrying the swords of the male from District 1 and the female from District 2 before his stick had been cut through and the female stabbed him in the stomach. Finnick watched in horror as Merritt lay in the dirt bleeding to death as the careers left him there. It took five minutes for Merritt to die._

_ Finnick remembered the despair that had flowed through him as he watched, knowing that his brother wasn't coming home. He saw Nerissa break down for only the second time in his life and he remembered wondering how his family would survive this. His two younger brothers looked so confused at both his and Nerissa's reactions. They didn't understand that Merritt was never coming back, and that almost broke Finnick's heart. They mourned Merritt and had a small funeral when the Captiol returned his body. It took a couple of months and a lot of hard work for them to survive._

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He was brought back to the present by the clock in his room chiming to indicate that another hour had passed. He turned off the shower and took his time getting ready for bed. He knew that he probably should have eaten but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wouldn't have been able to keep it down. He climbed into bed, knowing that tomorrow was going to be another hard day. Tomorrow he would have to be strong because he would be in the public's eye again. Tomorrow would be returning home and repeating Dylan's final words to his family. Tomorrow he would have to comfort two grieving families.

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**A/N – Nerissa means "sea sprite" and Merritt means "star of the sear". Merritt was also the name of Finnick's mentor but they aren't the same person. In this story Merritt is a fairly popular name in District 4. **

**As always, it would mean much to me if you could review.**

**Just an extra note, I probably won't update very regularly over the next couple of months. I am fairly busy and I really want to try and get these chapter's right before I upload. I also feel that there isn't much interest in the story so I don't feel the need to update often giving me more time to get my chapters right. I am not going to give up on this story though because I have it all planned out and I really want to see how it turns out. I also have ideas for other stories that I really want to right so I will probably write them as well as writing this. Sorry for the extra long authors note but I just wanted to let you know what is going to happen.**


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